The Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) has identified a set of standards and specifications designed to keep patient medical information secure in an electronic environment and to assure that this information will only be used by authorized personnel for official purposes.
According to the HITSP (Chicago), its work on an overarching security and privacy architecture is the latest in a series of steps to assure the interoperability of electronic health records in the United States. The newly defined set of standards, referred to as the "security and privacy constructs," will address common data protection issues in a broad range of subject areas, including electronic delivery of lab results to a clinician, medication workflow for providers and patients, quality, and consumer empowerment, says the organization.
Approved on October 15, 2007, the constructs include input received during a recent public review and comment period. Interested parties may review the approved set of standards and specifications by following the "HITSP Security and Privacy Documents" link on the HITSP webpage (www.hitsp.org).
Operating under contract to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the HITSP is administered by the Chicago-based American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
